I Won’t Let Endometriosis Control My Life

When Girls creator and actress Lena Dunham wrote about her battle with endometriosis, she was speaking for 10 per cent of women, in Australia and around the world, who suffer from the chronic condition. Dunham’s story rang true for those women who regularly experience extreme pain, struggle with fertility, heavy periods and pain during ovulation and sex as a result of endometriosis, a debilitating condition caused when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside it.

The cause of endometriosis is still unknown, although Associate Professor Jason Abbott, Medical Director of Endometriosis Australia, says that “genetics play a strong role and it is therefore a condition for life.” In Australia there is around a seven year delay in diagnosis due to the difficulty in diagnosing the internal condition, and because many women normalise and suppress the pain.